1. Describe what happened to each type of fork bird over time. Overtime, the 1 and 4-tined forkbirds increased in population and the 2-tined forkbirds decreased in population. Which fork bird was the most successful? Use your data to support your answer. The 4-tined forkbirds were most successful because every 5 generations they increased in population which is what makes a species successful. The 2-tined forkbirds completely failed because they decreased in population every 5 generations thus they were unsuccessful. The 1-tined forkbirds were successful but weren't as successful as the 4-tined forkbirds because in the last generation the 4-tined forkbirds ending up getting the most.
  2. Battling Beaks simulates the idea of NATURAL SELECTION. Based on what you did in class, your data and questions 1 and 2, what do you suppose natural selection? Natural selection is when a special species has special characteristics/traits that makes that species able to adapt in that specific environment. For example, 4-tined forkbirds were the most successful probably because 4-tined forkbirds had 4-tines which was easier to pick up the cheerios and a lot at one time. This gaved the 4-tined forkbirds an advantage to adapt in their environment and survive long enough to reproduce.
  3. As a result of heavy rains, the major food source for fork birds is now blueberries. After many generations, how many types of fork birds do you think there will be? What will the fork birds look like? Explain your answer. I think there will only be two types of forkbirds left, 4-tined forkbirds and 1-tined forkbirds. This is because since 4-tined forkbirds were the most successful and the most fit for the environment, I think they will keep reproducing. Also, 1-tined forkbirds were the second most sucessful and each generation the number of 1-tined forkbirds increased in population therefore, the 1-tined forkbirds will live long enough to reproduce.
  4. The cheetah, an extremely fast and efficient hunter, is an endangered species. The few cheetahs alive today show very little variation. How does this help to explain why cheetahs are on the verge of becoming extinct? This helps explain why cheetahs are on the verge of becoming extinct because since there are very few left with little variation this shows these cheetahs were not very fit for their environment. This is because they are not going to survive long enough to reproduce which means they don't have a trait that gives them an advantage over the other cheetahs in their environment. Thus, they are about to become extinct because there is very little difference between them.